ABOLISH THE POLICE, BRING IN THE SOCIAL WORKERS

Minneapolis mayor and Trump face off against city vote to DISBAND 'toxic' 800-strong police force in wake of George Floyd death - after Ilhan Omar led rally calling it 'rotten-to-root cancer' 

 

Daily Mail 

June 8, 2020

 

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Monday balked at claims made by city council members that they vowed to dismantle the police department as President Trump weighed in on the increasing number of cities that are reducing funding to police departments amid growing national outcry over police brutality. 

 

On Sunday, officials including Ilhan Omar and the son of the Attorney General prosecuting the four cops responsible for Floyd's death - signed a pledge vowing to take it apart. They spoke to protesters at Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis and revealed their 'reimagining' of the police force. 

 

No actual vote has taken place yet. The officials at the rally said they had enough votes on the council though to secure a majority.

 

Rep. Omar led the calls to disband it. 

 

'I will never stop saying not only do we need to disinvest in police but we need to completely dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department.  The Minneapolis Police Department is rotten to the root. And so when we dismantle it we get rid of that cancer and allow for something beautiful to rise and that reimagining allows us to figure out what public safety looks like for us.'

 

By law, Minneapolis must maintain a police force of at least 723 police officers. It currently has some 800. To completely get rid of the department, the city charter would have to be amended - which would require a public vote or the full approval of all 13 council members, including the mayor. 

 

Mayor Frey appeared on Good Morning America to say he would not support the plan to disband the department and that he wanted to know exactly what the council had in mind. 'Am I for entirely abolishing the police department? No, I'm not.' 

 

Trump also weighed in with a tweet saying 'LAW & ORDER, NOT DEFUND AND ABOLISH THE POLICE. The Radical Left Democrats have gone Crazy!'